Network routing utilizing a product code

ABSTRACT

A method for utilizing a product code having product information contained therein for interfacing over a network. A representation of the product information is extracted from the product code, which product code is disposed on or in close association with an associated product. In response to this extraction, network routing information is associated with the product code information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/379,699 entitled “NETWORK ROUTING UTILIZING A PRODUCT CODE,” filed onAug. 24, 1999; which is a Continuation-in-Part of pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/378,221 entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FORACCESSING A REMOTE LOCATION BY SCANNING AN OPTICAL CODE,” filed on Aug.19, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,745,234, issued Jun. 1, 2004; which is aContinuation-in-Part of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/151,471 entitled “METHOD FOR INTERFACING SCANNED PRODUCT INFORMATIONWITH A SOURCE FOR THE PRODUCT OVER A GLOBAL NETWORK” filed on Sep. 11,1998, now abandoned; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/151,530entitled “METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A COMPUTER WITH AN AUDIO SIGNAL” filedon Sep. 11, 1998, and which issued on Aug. 1, 2000 as U.S. Pat. No.6,098,106; the present application being related to the followingpending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/378,219 entitled“INTERACTIVE DOLL,” filed on Aug. 19, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,133,issued Sep. 30, 2003; Ser. No. 09/378,222 entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUSFOR EMBEDDING ROUTING INFORMATION TO A REMOTE WEB SITE IN AN AUDIO/VIDEOTRACK,” filed on Aug. 19, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,970,914, issued Nov.11, 2005; Ser. No. 09/378,220 entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FORCONTROLLING A COMPUTER FROM A REMOTE LOCATION,” filed on Aug. 19, 1999now U.S. Pat. No. 6,526,449, issued Feb. 25, 2003; Ser. No. 09/378,216entitled “A METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A COMPUTER USING AN EMBEDDED UNIQUECODE IN THE CONTENT OF VIDEO TAPE MEDIA,” filed on Aug. 19, 1999 nowU.S. Pat. No. 6,643,692, issued Nov. 4, 2003; Ser. No. 09/378,218entitled “A METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A COMPUTER USING AN EMBEDDED UNIQUECODE IN THE CONTENT OF DVD MEDIA,” filed on Aug. 19, 1999 now U.S. Pat.No. 7,010,577, issued Mar. 7, 2006; Ser. No. 09/378,217 entitled “AMETHOD FOR CONTROLLING A COMPUTER USING AN EMBEDDED UNIQUE CODE IN THECONTENT OF CD MEDIA,” filed on Aug. 19, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No.7,043,536, issued May 9, 2006; Ser. No. 09/378,215 entitled “A METHODFOR CONTROLLING A COMPUTER USING AN EMBEDDED UNIQUE CODE IN THE CONTENTOF DAT MEDIA,” filed on Aug. 19, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,615,268,issued Sep. 3, 2003; and related to the following co-pending U.S. patentapplications filed on even date with the present application: Ser. No.09/382,427 entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OPENING AND LAUNCHING AWEB BROWSER IN RESPONSE TO AN AUDIBLE SIGNAL,” now U.S. Pat. No.6,829,650, issued Dec. 7, 2004; Ser. No. 09/382,426 entitled “METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR COMPLETING, SECURING AND CONDUCTING AN E-COMMERCETRANSACTION;” Ser. No. 09/382,424 entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FORTRACKING USER PROFILE AND HABITS ON A GLOBAL NETWORK,” now U.S. Pat. No.6,836,799, issued Dec. 28, 2004; Ser. No. 09/382,425 entitled “METHODAND APPARATUS FOR DIRECTING AN EXISTING PRODUCT CODE TO A REMOTELOCATION,” now U.S. Pat. No. 7,228,282, issued Jun. 5, 2007; Ser. No.09/382,373 entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING A WEB SITE WITHA NON-STANDARD CONTROL INPUT DEVICE,” now U.S. Pat. No. 7,117,240,issued Oct. 3, 2006; Ser. No. 09/382,374 entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUSFOR ALLOWING A BROADCAST TO REMOTELY CONTROL A COMPUTER;” Ser. No.09/382,371 entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING A WEB SITE INRESPONSE TO SCANNING OF A PRODUCT CODE;” Ser. No. 09/382,372 entitled“METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MATCHING A USER'S USE PROFILE IN COMMERCE WITHA BROADCAST;” Ser. No. 09/382,423 entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FORUTILIZING AN AUDIBLE SIGNAL TO INDUCE A USER TO SELECT AN E-COMMERCEFUNCTION;” Ser. No. 09/382,421 entitled “A COMBINED PRODUCT CODE ANDINSIGNIA FOR SIGNIFYING AN INTERNAL INTERACTIVE CODE;” Ser. No.09/382,420 entitled “DIGITAL ID FOR SELECTING WEB BROWSER AND USEPREFERENCES OF A USER DURING USE OF A WEB APPLICATION,” now U.S. Pat.No. 6,826,592, issued Nov. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 09/382,422 entitled“UNIQUE ID FOR IDENTIFYING A USER AND FACILITATING AN E-COMMERCETRANSACTION,” now abandoned; Ser. No. 09/382,377 entitled “METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR LINKING A WEB BROWSER TO A PROMOTIONAL OFFER OVER A GLOBALNETWORK;” Ser. No. 09/382,376 entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FORCONTROLLING A USER'S PC THROUGH AN AUDIO/VISUAL BROADCAST TO ARCHIVEINFORMATION IN THE USER'S PC;” Ser. No. 09/382,375 entitled “METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR UTILIZING AN EXISTING PRODUCT CODE TO ISSUE A MATCH TO APREDETERMINED LOCATION ON A GLOBAL NETWORK,” now U.S. Pat. No.7,159,037, issued Jan. 2, 2007; and Ser. No. 09/379,700 entitled “METHODFOR INTERCONNECTING TWO LOCATIONS OVER A NETWORK IN RESPONSE TO USING ATOOL,” now U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,354, issued Mar. 2, 2004.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to a method of computer control and,more particularly, to a system for automatically routing a user PC overa network utilizing a product code.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the growing numbers of computer users connecting to the “Internet,”many companies are seeking the substantial commercial opportunitiespresented by such a large user base. For example, one technology whichexists allows a television (“TV”) signal to trigger a computer responsein which the consumer will be guided to a personalized web page. Thesource of the triggering signal may be a TV, video tape recorder, orradio. For example, if a viewer is watching a TV program in which anadvertiser offers viewer voting, the advertiser may transmit a uniquesignal within the television signal which controls a program known as a“browser” on the viewer's computer to automatically display theadvertiser's web page. The viewer then simply makes a selection which isthen transmitted back to the advertiser.

In order to provide the viewer with the capability of responding to awide variety of companies using this technology, a database of companyinformation and Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”) codes is necessarilymaintained in the viewer's computer, requiring continuous updates. URLsare short strings of data that identify resources on the Internet:documents, images, downloadable files, services, electronic mailboxes,and other resources. URLs make resources available under a variety ofnaming schemes and access methods such as HTTP, FTP, and Internet mail,addressable in the same simple way. URLs reduce the tedium of “login tothis server, then issue this magic command . . . ” down to a singleclick. The Internet uses URLs to specify the location of files on otherservers. A URL includes the type of resource being accessed (e.g., Web,gopher, FTP), the address of the server, and the location of the file.The URL can point to any file on any networked computer. Currenttechnology requires the viewer to perform periodic updates to obtain themost current URL database. This aspect of the current technology iscumbersome since the update process requires downloading information tothe viewer's computer. Moreover, the likelihood for error in performingthe update, and the necessity of redoing the update in the event of alater computer crash, further complicates the process. Additionally,current technologies are limited in the number of companies which may bestored in the database. This is a significant limitation sinceworld-wide access presented by the Internet and the increasing number ofcompanies connecting to perform on-line E-commerce necessitates a largedatabase.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention disclosed and claimed herein comprises a methodfor utilizing a product code having product information containedtherein for interfacing over a network. A representation of the productinformation is extracted from the product code, which product code isdisposed on or in close association with an associated product. Inresponse to this extraction, network routing information is associatedwith the product code information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and theadvantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates the computer components employed in this embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates system interactions over a global network;

FIGS. 4 a-4 e illustrate the various message packets transmitted betweenthe source PC and network servers used in the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting operation of the system according to thepreferred embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of actions taken by the AdvertiserReference Server (“ARS”) server;

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of the interactive process between thesource computer and ARS;

FIG. 8 illustrates a web browser page receiving the modifiedURL/advertiser product data according to the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 9 illustrates a simplified block diagram of the disclosedembodiment;

FIG. 10 illustrates a more detailed, simplified block diagram of theembodiment of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 illustrates a diagrammatic view of a method for performing therouting operation;

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of an alternate embodiment utilizingan optical region in the video image for generating the routinginformation;

FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram illustrating the generation of aprofile with the disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 14 illustrates a flowchart for generating the profile and storingat the ARS;

FIG. 15 illustrates a flowchart for processing the profile informationwhen information is routed to a user;

FIG. 16 illustrates a general block diagram of a disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 16 a illustrates a flowchart depicting the operation wherein theinput device is registered;

FIG. 17 illustrates the conversion circuit of the wedge interface;

FIG. 18 illustrates a sample message packet transmitted from the user PCto the ARS;

FIG. 19 illustrates a more detailed block diagram of the routing of themessage packets between the various nodes;

FIG. 20 illustrates a block diagram of a browser window, according to adisclosed embodiment;

FIG. 21 illustrates a diagrammatic view of information contained in theARS database;

FIG. 22 illustrates a flowchart of the process of receiving informationfor the user's perspective;

FIG. 23 illustrates a flowchart according to the ARS; and

FIG. 24 illustrates a flowchart of the process performed at theE-commerce node.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a block diagram of asystem for controlling a personal computer (“PC”) 112 via an audio tonetransmitted over a wireless system utilizing a TV. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 1, there is provided a transmission station 101 anda receive station 117 that are connected via a communication link 108.The transmission station 101 is comprised of a television program source104, which is operable to generate a program in the form of a broadcastsignal comprised of video and audio. This is transmitted viaconventional techniques along channels in the appropriate frequencies.The program source is input to a mixing device 106, which mixing deviceis operable to mix in an audio signal. This audio signal is derived froman audio source 100 which comprises a coded audio signal which is thenmodulated onto a carrier which is combined with the television programsource 104. This signal combining can be done at the audio level, or itcan even be done at the RF level in the form of a different carrier.However, the preferred method is to merely sum the audio signal from themodulator 102 into the audio channel of the program that is generated bythe television program source 104. The output thereof is provided fromthe mixing device 106 in the form of broadcast signal to an antenna 107,which transmits the information over the communication link 108 to anantenna 109 on the receive side.

On the receive side of the system, a conventional receiver 110, such asa television is provided. This television provides a speaker outputwhich provides the user with an audible signal. This is typicallyassociated with the program. However, the receiver 110 in the disclosedembodiment, also provides an audio output jack, this being the type RCAjack. This jack is utilized to provide an audio output signal on a line113 which is represented by an audio signal 111. This line 113 providesall of the audio that is received over the communication link 108 to thePC 112 in the audio input port on the PC 112. However, it should beunderstood that, although a direct connection is illustrated from thereceiver 110 to the PC 112, there actually could be a microphone pickupat the PC 112 which could pick the audio signal up. In the disclosedembodiment, the audio signal generated by the advertiser data inputdevice 100 is audible to the human ear and, therefore, can be heard bythe user. Therefore, no special filters are needed to provide this audioto the PC 112.

The PC 112 is operable to run programs thereon which typically arestored in a program file area 116. These programs can be any type ofprograms such as word processing programs, application programs, etc. Inthe disclosed embodiment, the program that is utilized in the system iswhat is referred to as a “browser.” The PC 112 runs a browser program tofacilitate the access of information on the network, for example, aglobal communication network known as the “Internet” or theWorld-Wide-Web (“Web”). The browser is a hypertext-linked applicationused for accessing information. Hypertext is a term used to describe aparticular organization of information within a data processing system,and its presentation to a user. It exploits the computer's ability tolink together information from a wide variety of sources to provide theuser with the ability to explore a particular topic. The traditionalstyle of presentation used in books employs an organization of theinformation which is imposed upon it by limitations of the medium,namely fixed sized, sequential paper pages. Hypertext systems, however,use a large number of units of text or other types of data such as imageinformation, graphical information, video information, or soundinformation, which can vary in size. A collection of such units ofinformation is termed a hypertext document, or where the hypertextdocuments employ information other than text, hypermedia documents.Multimedia communications may use the Hypertext Transfer Protocol(“HTTP”), and files or formatted data may use the Hypertext MarkupLanguage (“HTML”). This formatting language provides for a mingling oftext, graphics, sound, video, and hypertext links by “tagging” a textdocument using HTML. Data encoded using HTML is often referred to as an“HTML document,” an “HTML page,” or a “home page.” These documents andother Internet resources may be accessed across the network by means ofa network addressing scheme which uses a locator referred to as aUniform Resource Locator (“URL”), for example, “http://www.digital.com.”

The Internet is one of the most utilized networks for interconnectingdistributed computer systems and allows users of these computer systemsto exchange data all over the world. Connected to the Internet are manyprivate networks, for example, corporate or commercial networks.Standard protocols, such as the Transport Control Protocol (“TCP”) andthe Internet Protocol (“IP”) provide a convenient method forcommunicating across these diverse networks. These protocols dictate howdata are formatted and communicated. As a characteristic of theInternet, the protocols are layered in an IP stack. At higher levels ofthe IP stack, such as the application layer (where HTTP is employed),the user information is more readily visible, while at lower levels,such as the network level (where TCP/IP are used), the data can merelybe observed as packets or a stream of rapidly moving digital signals.Superimposed on the Internet is a standard protocol interface foraccessing Web resources, such as servers, files, Web pages, mailmessages, and the like. One way that Web resources can be accessed is bybrowsers made by Netscape® and Microsoft Internet Explorer®.

Referring again now to FIG. 1, the user can load this program with theappropriate keystrokes such that a browser window will be displayed on adisplay 118. In one embodiment, the user can run the browser program onthe PC 112 such that the browser window is displayed on the display 118.While watching a preferred program, the user can also view display 118.When an audio signal is received by the receiver 110 and the encodedinformation is contained therein that was input thereto by theadvertiser, the PC 112 will then perform a number of operations. Thefirst operation, according to the disclosed embodiment, is to extractthe audio information within the received audio signal in the form ofdigital data, and then transmit this digital data to a defined locationon the global communication network via a modem connection 114. Thisconnection will be described hereinbelow. This information will berelayed to a proprietary location and the instructions sent back to thePC 112 as to the location of the advertiser associated with the code,and the PC 112 will then effect a communication link to that locationsuch that the user can view on the display 118 information that theadvertiser, by the fact of putting the tone onto the broadcast channel,desires the viewer to view. This information can be in the form ofinteractive programs, data files, etc. In one example, when anadvertisement appears on the television, the tone can be generated andthen additional data displayed on the display 118. Additionally, astreaming video program could be played on the PC received over thenetwork, which streaming video program is actually longer than theadvertising segment on the broadcast. Another example would be a sportsgame that would broadcast the tone in order to allow a user access toinformation that is not available over the broadcast network, such asadditional statistics associated with the sports program, etc.

By utilizing the system described herein with respect to the disclosedembodiment of FIG. 1, an advertiser is allowed the ability to control auser's PC 112 through the use of tones embedded within a program audiosignal. As will described hereinbelow, the disclosed embodiment utilizesparticular routing information stored in the PC 112 which allows theencoded information in the received audio signal to route thisinformation to a desired location on the network, and then allow otherrouting information to be returned to the PC 112 for control thereof toroute the PC 112 to the appropriate location associated with that code.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is illustrated a computer 204, similar tocomputer 112, connected to display information on display 118. Thecomputer 204 comprises an internal audio or “sound” card 206 forreceiving the transmitted audio signal through receive antenna 109 andreceiver 110. The sound card 206 typically contains analog-to-digitalcircuitry for converting the analog audio signal into a digital signal.The digital signal may then be more easily manipulated by softwareprograms. The receiver 110 separates the audio signal from the videosignal. A special trigger signal located within the transmittedadvertiser audio signal triggers proprietary software running on thecomputer 204 which launches a communication application, in thisparticular embodiment, the web browser application located on the PC204. Coded advertiser information contained within the audio signal isthen extracted and appended with the address of a proprietary serverlocated on the communication network. The remote server address is inthe form of a URL. This appended data, in addition to other controlcodes, is inserted directly into the web browser application forautomatic routing to the communication network.

The web browser running on PC 204, and communicating to the networkthrough an internal modem 208, in this embodiment, transmits theadvertiser information to the remote server. The remote servercross-references the advertiser product information to the address ofthe advertiser server located on the network. The address of theadvertiser server is routed back through the PC 204 web browser to theadvertiser server. The advertiser product information is returned to PC204 to be presented to the viewer on display 118. In this particularembodiment, the particular advertiser product information displayed iscontained within the advertiser's web page 212. As mentioned above, theaudio signal is audible to the human ear. Therefore the audio signal, asemitted from the TV speakers, may be input to the sound card 206 via amicrophone. Furthermore, the audio signal need not be a real-timebroadcast, but may be on video tapes, CDs, DVD, or other media which maybe displayed at a later date. With the imminent implementation of highdefinition digital television, the audio signal output from the TV mayalso be digital. Therefore, direct input into a sound card for A/Dpurposes may not be necessary, but alternative interfacing techniques toaccommodate digital-to-digital signal formats would apply.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is illustrated a source PC 302, similarto PCs 204 and 112, connected to a global communication network (GCN)306 through an interface 304. In this embodiment, the audio signal 111is received by PC 302 through its sound card 206. The audio signal 111comprises a trigger signal which triggers proprietary software intolaunching a web browser application residing on the PC 302. The audiosignal 111 also comprises advertiser product information which isextracted and appended with URL information of an Advertiser ReferenceServer (“ARS”) 308. The ARS 308 is a system disposed on the GCN 306 thatis defined as the location to which data in the audio signal 111 is tobe routed. As such, data in the audio signal 111 will always be routedto the ARS 308, since a URL is unique on the GCN 306. Connected to theARS 308 is a database 310 of product codes and associated manufacturerURLs. The database 310 undergoes a continual update process which istransparent to the user. As companies sign-on, i.e., subscribe, to thistechnology, manufacturer and product information is added to thedatabase 310 without interrupting operation of the source PC 302 withfrequent updates. When the advertiser server address URL is obtainedfrom the ARS database 310, it and the request for the particularadvertiser product information are automatically routed back through theweb browser on PC 302, over to the respective advertiser server forretrieval of the advertiser product information to the PC 302.Additionally, although the disclosed invention discusses a globalcommunication network, the system is also applicable to LANs, WANs, andpeer-to-peer network configurations. It should be noted that thedisclosed architecture is not limited to a single source PC 302, but maycomprise a plurality of source PCs, e.g., PC 300 and PC 303. Moreover, aplurality of ARS 308 systems and advertiser servers 312 may beimplemented, e.g., ARS 314, and advertiser server A 316, respectively.

The information transactions, in general, which occur between thenetworked systems of this embodiment, over the communication network,are the following. The web browser running on source PC 302 transmits amessage packet to the ARS 308 over Path “A.” The ARS 308 decodes themessage packet and performs a cross-reference function with productinformation extracted from the received message packet to obtain theaddress of an advertiser server 312. A new message packet is assembledcomprising the advertiser server 312 address, and sent back to thesource PC 302 over Path “B.” A “handoff” operation is performed wherebythe source PC 302 browser simply reroutes the information on to theadvertiser server 312 over Path “C,” with the appropriate source anddestination address appended. The advertiser server 312 receives anddecodes the message packet. Therequest-for-advertiser-product-information is extracted and theadvertiser 312 retrieves the requested information from its database fortransmission back to the source PC 302 over Path “D.” The source PC 302then processes the information, i.e., for display to the viewer. Theoptional Path “E” is discussed hereinbelow. It should be noted that thedisclosed methods are not limited to only browser communicationapplications, but may accommodate, with sufficient modifications by oneskilled in the art, other communication applications used to transmitinformation over the Internet or communication network.

Referring now to FIG. 4 a, the message packet 400 sent from the sourcePC 302 to ARS 308 via Path “A” comprises several fields. One fieldcomprises the URL of the ARS 308 which indicates where the messagepacket is to be sent. Another field comprises the advertiser productcode or other information derived from the audio signal 111, and anyadditional overhead information required for a given transaction. Theproduct code provides a link to the address of the advertiser server312, located in the database 310. Yet another field comprises thenetwork address of the source PC 302. In general, network transmissionsare effected in packets of information, each packet providing adestination address, a source address, and data. These packets varydepending upon the network transmission protocol utilized forcommunication. Although the protocols utilized in the disclosedembodiment are of a conventional protocol suite commonly known asTCP/IP, it should be understood that any protocols providing the similarbasic functions can be used, with the primary requirement that a browsercan forward the routing information to the desired URL in response tokeystrokes being input to a PC. However, it should be understood thatany protocol can be used, with the primary requirement that a browsercan forward the product information to the desired URL in response tokeystrokes being input to a PC. Within the context of this disclosure,“message packet” shall refer to and comprise the destination URL,product information, and source address, even though more than a singlepacket must be transmitted to effect such a transmission.

Upon receipt of the message packet 400 from source PC 302, ARS 308processes the information in accordance with instructions embedded inthe overhead information. The ARS 308 specifically will extract theproduct code information from the received packet 400 and, onceextracted, will then decode this product code information. Once decoded,this information is then compared with data contained within the ARSadvertiser database 310 to determine if there is a “hit.” If there is no“hit” indicating a match, then information is returned to the browserindicating such. If there is a “hit,” a packet 402 is assembled whichcomprises the address of the source PC 302, and information instructingthe source PC 302 as to how to access, directly in a “handoff”operation, another location on the network, that of an advertiser server312. This type of construction is relatively conventional with browserssuch as Netscape® and Microsoft Internet Explorer® and, rather thandisplaying information from the ARS 308, the source PC 302 can thenaccess the advertiser server 312. The ARS 308 transmits the packet 402back to source PC 302 over Path “B.” Referring now to FIG. 4 b, themessage packet 402 comprises the address of the source PC 302, the URLof the advertiser server 312 embedded within instructional code, and theURL of the ARS 308.

Upon receipt of the message packet 402 by the source PC 302, the messagepacket 402 is disassembled to obtain pertinent routing information forassembly of a new message packet 404. The web browser running on sourcePC 302 is now directed to obtain, over Path “C,” the product informationrelevant to the particular advertiser server 312 location informationembedded in message packet 404. Referring now to FIG. 4 c, the messagepacket 404 for this transaction comprises the URL of the advertiserserver 312, the request-for-product-information data, and the address ofthe source PC 302.

Upon receipt of the message packet 404 from source PC 302, advertiserserver 312 disassembles the message packet 404 to obtain therequest-for-product-information data. The advertiser server 312 thenretrieves the particular product information from its database, andtransmits it over Path “D” back to the source PC 302. Referring now toFIG. 4 d, the message packet 406 for this particular transactioncomprises the address of the source PC 302, the requested information,and the URL of the advertiser server 312.

Optionally, the ARS 308 may make a direct request for productinformation over Path “E” to advertiser server 312. In this mode, theARS 308 sends information to the advertiser server 312 instructing it tocontact the source PC 302. This, however, is unconventional and requiresmore complex software control. The message packet 408 for thistransaction is illustrated in FIG. 4 e, which comprises the URL of theadvertiser server 312, the request-for-product-information data, and theaddress of the source PC 302. Since product information is not beingreturned to the ARS 308, but directly to the source PC 302, the messagepacket 408 requires the return address to be that of the source PC 302.The product information is then passed directly to PC 302 over Path “D.”

Referring now to FIG. 5, the method for detecting and obtaining productinformation is as follows. In decision block 500, a proprietaryapplication running resident on a source computer PC 302 (similar to PC204) monitors the audio input for a special trigger signal. Upondetection of the trigger signal, data following the trigger signal isdecoded for further processing, in function block 502. In function block504, the data is buffered for further manipulation. In decision block506, a determination is made as to whether the data can be properlyauthenticated. If not, program flow continues through the “N” signal tofunction block 520 where the data is discarded. In function block 522,the program then signals for a retransmission of the data. The systemthen waits for the next trigger signal, in decision block 500. Ifproperly authenticated in decision block 506, program flow continuesthrough the “Y” signal path where the data is then used to launch theweb browser application, as indicated in function block 508. In functionblock 510, the web browser receives the URL data, which is thenautomatically routed through the computer modem 208 to the networkinterface 304 and ultimately to the network 306. In function block 514,the ARS 308 responds by returning the URL of advertiser server 312 tothe PC 302. In function block 516, the web browser running on the sourcePC 302, receives the advertiser URL information from the ARS 308, andtransmits the URL for the product file to the advertiser server 312. Inblock 518, the advertiser server 312 responds by sending the productinformation to the source PC 302 for processing.

The user may obtain the benefits of this architecture by simplydownloading the proprietary software over the network. Other methods forobtaining the software are well-known; for example, by CD, diskette, orpre-loaded hard drives.

Referring now to FIG. 6, there is illustrated a flowchart of the processthe ARS 308 may undergo when receiving the message packet 400 from thesource PC 302. In decision block 600, the ARS 308 checks for the receiptof the message packet 400. If a message packet 400 is not received,program flow moves along the “N” path to continue waiting for themessage. If the message packet 400 is received, program flow continuesalong path “Y” for message processing. Upon receipt of the messagepacket 400, in function block 602, the ARS 308 decodes the messagepacket 400. The product code is then extracted independently in functionblock 604 in preparation for matching the product code with theappropriate advertiser server address located in the database 310. Infunction block 606, the product code is then used with a lookup table toretrieve the advertiser server 312 URL of the respective productinformation contained in the audio signal data. In function block 608,the ARS 308 then assembles message packet 402 for transmission back tothe source PC 302. Function block 610 indicates the process of sendingthe message packet 402 back to the source PC 302 over Path “B.”

Referring now to FIG. 7, there is illustrated a flowchart of theinteractive processes between the source PC 302 and the advertiserserver 312. In function block 700, the source PC 302 receives themessage packet 402 back from the ARS 308 and begins to decode the packet402. In function block 702, the URL of the advertiser productinformation is extracted from the message packet 402 and saved forinsertion into the message packet 404 to the advertiser server 312. Themessage packet 404 is then assembled and sent by the source PC 302 overPath “C” to the advertiser server 312, in function block 704. While thesource PC 302 waits, in function block 706, the advertiser server 312receives the message packet 404 from the source PC 302, in functionblock 708, and disassembles it. The product information location is thenextracted from the message packet 404 in function block 710. Theparticular product information is retrieved from the advertiser server312 database for transmission back to the source PC 302. In functionblock 712, the product information is assembled into message packet 406and then transmitted back to the source PC 302 over Path “D.” Returningto the source PC 302 in function block 714, the advertiser productinformation contained in the message packet 406 received from theadvertiser server 312, is then extracted and processed in function block716.

Referring now to FIG. 8, after receipt of a trigger signal, a webbrowser application on a source PC 302 is automatically launched andcomputer display 800 presents a browser page 802. Proprietary softwarerunning on the source PC 302 processes the audio signal data after beingdigitized through the sound card 206. The software appropriatelyprepares the data for insertion directly into the web browser byextracting the product information code and appending keystroke data tothis information. First, a URL page 804 is opened in response to aCtrl-O command added by the proprietary software as the first characterstring. Opening URL page 804 automatically positions the cursor in afield 806 where additional keystroke data following the Ctrl-O commandwill be inserted. After URL page 804 is opened, the hypertext protocolpreamble http:// is inserted into the field 806. Next, URL informationassociated with the location of the ARS 308 is inserted into field 806.Following the ARS 308 URL data are the characters /? to allow entry ofvariables immediately following the /? characters. In this embodiment,the variable following is the product information code received in theaudio signal. The product code information also provides thecross-reference information for obtaining the advertiser URL from theARS database 310. Next, a carriage return is added to send theURL/product data and close the window 804. After the message packet 400is transmitted to the ARS 308 from the source PC 302, transactions fromthe ARS 308, to the source PC 302, to the advertiser server 312, andback to the source PC 302, occur quickly and are transparent to theviewer. At this point, the next information the viewer sees is theproduct information which was received from the advertiser server 312.

Referring now to FIG. 9, there is illustrated a block diagram of a moresimplified embodiment. In this embodiment, a video source 902 isprovided which is operable to provide an audio output on an audio cable901 which provides routing information referred to by reference numeral904. The routing information 904 is basically information containedwithin the audio signal. This is an encoded or embedded signal. Theimportant aspect of the routing information 904 is that it isautomatically output in realtime as a function of the broadcast of thevideo program received over the video source 902. Therefore, wheneverthe program is being broadcast in realtime to the user 908, the routinginformation 904 will be output whenever the producer of the videodesires it to be produced. It should be understood that the box 902representing the video source could be any type of media that willresult in the routing information being output. This could be a cassetteplayer, a DVD player, an audio cassette, a CD ROM or any such media. Itis only important that this is a program that the producer developswhich the user 908 watches in a continuous or a streaming manner.Embedded within that program, at a desired point selected by theproducer, the routing information 904 is output.

The audio information is then routed to a PC 906, which is similar tothe PC 112 in FIG. 1. A user 908 is interfaced with the PC to receiveinformation thereof, the PC 906 having associated therewith a display(not shown). The PC 906 is interfaced with a network 910, similar to thenetwork 306 in FIG. 3. This network 910 has multiple nodes thereon, oneof which is the PC 906, and another of which is represented by a networknode 912 which represents remote information. The object of the presentembodiment is to access remote information for display to the user 908by the act of transmitting from the video program in block 902 therouting information 904. This routing information 904 is utilized toallow the PC 906 which has a network “browser” running thereon to“fetch” the remote information at the node 912 over the network 910 fordisplay to the user 908. This routing information 904 is in the form ofan embedded code within the audio signal, as was described hereinabove.

Referring now to FIG. 10, there is illustrated a more detailed blockdiagram of the embodiment of FIG. 9. In this embodiment, the PC 906 issplit up into a couple of nodes, a first PC 1002 and a second PC 1004.The PC 1002 resides at the node associated with the user 908, and the PC1004 resides at another node. The PC 1004 represents the ARS 308 of FIG.3. The PC 1004 has a database 1006 associated therewith, which isbasically the advertiser database 310. Therefore, there are three nodeson the network 910 necessary to implement the disclosed embodiment, thePC 1002, the PC 1004 and the remote information node 912. The routinginformation 904 is utilized by the PC 1002 for routing to the PC 1004 todetermine the location of the remote information node 912 on the network910. This is returned to the PC 1002 and a connection made directly withthe remote information node 912 and the information retrieved therefromto the user 908. The routing information 904 basically constitutesprimary routing information.

Referring now to FIG. 11, there is illustrated a diagrammatic view ofhow the network packet is formed for sending the primary routinginformation to the PC 1004. In general, the primary routing informationoccupies a single field which primary routing information is thenassembled into a data packet with the secondary routing information fortransfer to the network 910. This is described hereinabove in detail.

Referring now to FIG. 12, there is illustrated an alternate embodimentto that of FIG. 9. In this embodiment, the video source 902 hasassociated therewith an optical region 1202, which optical region 1202has disposed therein an embedded video code. This embedded video codecould be relatively complex or as simple as a grid of dark and whiteregions, each region in the grid able to have a dark color for a logic“1” or a white region for a logic “0.” This will allow a digital valueto be disposed within the optical region 1202. A sensor 1204 can then beprovided for sensing this video code. In the example above, this wouldmerely require an array of optical detectors, one for each region in thegrid to determine whether this is a logic “1” or a logic “0” state. Oneof the sensed video is then output to the PC 906 for processing thereofto determine the information contained therein, which informationcontained therein constitutes the primary routing information 904.Thereafter, it is processed as described hereinabove with reference toFIG. 9.

Referring now to FIG. 13, there is illustrated a block diagram for anembodiment wherein a user's profile can be forwarded to the originalsubscriber or manufacturer. The PC 906 has associated therewith aprofile database 1302, which profile database 1302 is operable to storea profile of the user 908. This profile is created when the program,after initial installation, requests profile information to be input inorder to activate the program. In addition to the profile, there is alsoa unique ID that is provided to the user 908 in association with thebrowser program that runs on the PC 906. This is stored in a storagelocation represented by a block 1304. This ID 1304 is accessible by aremote location as a “cookie” which is information that is stored in thePC 906 in an accessible location, which accessible location is actuallyaccessible by the remote program running on a remote node.

The ARS 308, which basically constitutes the PC 1004 of FIG. 10, isoperable to have associated therewith a profile database 1308, whichprofile database 1308 is operable to store profiles for all of theusers. The profile database 1308 is a combination of the stored inprofile database 1302 for all of the PCs 906 that are attachable to thesystem. This is to be distinguished from information stored in thedatabase 310 of the ARS 308, the advertiser's database, which containsintermediate destination tables. When the routing information in theprimary routing information 904 is forwarded to the ARS 308 andextracted from the original data packet, the lookup procedure describedhereinabove can then be performed to determine where this information isto be routed. The profile database 1302 is then utilized for eachtransaction, wherein each transaction in the form of the routinginformation received from the primary routing information 904 iscompared to the destination tables of database 310 to determine whatmanufacturer is associated therewith.

The associated ID 1304 that is transmitted along with the routinginformation in primary routing information 904 is then compared with theprofile database 1308 to determine if a profile associated therewith isavailable. This information is stored in a transaction database 1310such that, at a later time, for each routing code received in the formof the information in primary routing information 904, there willassociated therewith the IDs 1304 of each of the PCs 906. The associatedprofiles in database 1308, which are stored in association with IDs1304, can then be assembled and transmitted to a subscriber asreferenced by a subscriber node 1312 on the network 910. The ARS 308 cando this in two modes, a realtime mode or a non-realtime mode. In arealtime mode, each time a PC 906 accesses the advertiser database 310,that user's profile information is uploaded to the subscriber node 1312.At the same time, billing information is generated for that subscriber1312 which is stored in a billing database 1316. Therefore, the ARS 308has the ability to inform the subscriber 1312 of each transaction, billfor those transactions, and also provide to the subscriber 1312 profileinformation regarding who is accessing the particular productadvertisement having associated therewith the routing information field904 for a particular routing code as described hereinabove. Thisinformation, once assembled, can then be transmitted to the subscriber1312 and also be reflected in billing information and stored in thebilling information database 1316.

Referring now to FIG. 14, there is illustrated a flowchart depicting theoperation for storing the profile for the user. The program is initiatedin a block 1402 and then proceeds to a function block 1404, wherein thesystem will prompt for the profile upon initiation of the system. Thisinitiation is a function that is set to activate whenever the userinitially loads the software that he or she is provided. The purpose forthis is to create, in addition to the setup information, a user profile.Once the user is prompted for this, then the program will flow to adecision block 1406 to determine whether the user provides basic ordetailed information. This is selectable by the user. If selectingbasic, the program will flow to a function block 1408 wherein the userwill enter basic information such as name and serial number and possiblyan address. However, to provide some incentive to the user to enter moreinformation, the original prompt in function block 1404 would haveoffers for such things as coupons, discounts, etc., if the user willenter additional information. If the user selects this option, theprogram flows from the decision block 1406 to a function block 1410. Inthe function block 1410, the user is prompted to enter specificinformation such as job, income level, general family history,demographic information and more. There can be any amount of informationcollected in this particular function block.

Once all of the information is collected, in either the basic mode orthe more specific mode, the program will then flow to a function block1412 where this information is stored locally. The program then flows toa decision block 1414 to then go on-line to the host or the ARS 308. Ingeneral, the user is prompted to determine whether he or she wants tosend this information to the host at the present time or to send itlater. If he or she selects the “later” option, the program will flow toa function block 1415 to prompt the user at a later time to send theinformation. In the disclosed embodiment, the user will not be able toutilize the software until the profile information is sent to the host.Therefore, the user may have to activate this at a later time in orderto connect with the host.

If the user has selected the option to upload the profile information tothe host, the program will flow to the function block 1416 to initiatethe connect process and then to a decision block 1418 to determine ifthe connection has been made. If not, the program will flow along a “N”path to decision block 1420 which will timeout to an error block 1422 orback to the input of the connect decision block 1418. The program, onceconnected, will then flow along a “Y” path from decision block 1418 to afunction block 1428 to send the profile information with the ID of thecomputer or user to the host. The ID is basically, as describedhereinabove, a “cookie” in the computer which is accessed by the programwhen transmitting to the host. The program will then flow to a functionblock 1430 to activate the program such that it, at later time, canoperate without requiring all of the setup information. In general, allof the operation of this flowchart is performed with a “wizard” whichsteps the user through the setup process. Once complete, the programwill flow to a Done block 1432.

Referring now to FIG. 15, there is illustrated a flowchart depicting theoperation of the host when receiving a transaction. The program isinitiated at a Start block 1502 and then proceeds to decision block1504, wherein it is determined whether the system has received a routingrequest, i.e., the routing information 904 in the form of a tone, etc.,embedded in the audio signal, as described hereinabove with respect toFIG. 9. The program will loop back around to the input of decision block1504 until the routing request has been received. At this time, theprogram will flow along the “Y” path to a function block 1506 to receivethe primary routing information and the user ID. Essentially, thisprimary routing information is extracted from the audio tone, inaddition to the user ID. The program then flows to a function block 1508to look up the manufacturer URL that corresponds to the received primaryrouting information and then return the necessary command information tothe originating PC 108 in order to allow that PC 108 to connect to thedestination associated with the primary routing information. Thereafter,the program will flow to a function block 1510 to update the transactiondatabase 1310 for the current transaction. In general, the routinginformation 904 will be stored as a single field with the associatedIDs. The profile database 1308, as described hereinabove, has associatedtherewith detailed profiles of each user on the system that hasactivated their software in association with their ID. Since the ID wassent in association with the routing information, what is stored in thetransaction database 1310 is the routing code, in association with allof the IDs transmitted to the system in association with that particularrouting code. Once this transaction database 1310 has been updated, asdescribed hereinabove, the transactions can be transferred back to thesubscriber at node 312 with the detailed profile information from theprofile database 1308.

The profile information can be transmitted back to the subscriber ormanufacturer at the node 312 in realtime or non-realtime. A decisionblock 1512 is provided for this, which determines if the delivery isrealtime. If realtime, the program will flow along a “Y” path to afunction block 1514 wherein the information will be immediatelyforwarded to the manufacturer or subscriber. The program will then flowto a function block 1516 wherein the billing for that particularmanufacturer or subscriber will be updated in the billing database 1316.The program will then flow into an End block 1518. If it wasnon-realtime, the program moves along the “N” path to a function block1520 wherein it is set for a later delivery and it is accrued in thetransaction database 1310. In any event, the transaction database 1310will accrue all information associated with a particular routing code.

With a realtime transaction, it is possible for a manufacturer to placean advertisement in a magazine or to place a product on a shelf at aparticular time. The manufacturer can thereafter monitor the times wheneither the advertisements are or the products are purchased. Of course,they must be scanned into a computer which will provide some delay.However, the manufacturer can gain a very current view of how a productis moving. For example, if a cola manufacturer were to provide apromotional advertisement on, for example, television, indicating that anew cola was going to be placed on the shelf and that the first 1000purchasers, for example, scanning their code into the network wouldreceive some benefit, such as a chance to win a trip to some famousresort in Florida or some other incentive, the manufacturer would have avery good idea as to how well the advertisement was received. Further,the advertiser would know where the receptive markets were. If thisadvertiser, for example, had placed the television advertisement in tencities and received overwhelming response from one city, but very poorresponse from another city, he would then have some inclination tobelieve that either the one poor-response city was not a good market orthat the advertising medium he had chosen was very poor. Since theadvertiser can obtain a relatively instant response and also contentwith that response as to the demographics of the responder, veryimportant information can be obtained in a relatively short time.

It should be noted that the disclosed embodiment is not limited to asingle source PC 302, but may encompass a large number of sourcecomputers connected over a global communication network. Additionally,the embodiment is not limited to a single ARS 308 or a single advertiserserver 312, but may include a plurality of ARS and advertiser systems,indicated by the addition of ARS 314 and advertiser server A 316,respectively. It should also be noted that this embodiment is notlimited only to global communication networks, but also may be used withLAN, WAN, and peer-to-peer configurations.

It should also be noted that the disclosed embodiment is not limited toa personal computer, but is also applicable to, for example, a NetworkComputer (“NetPC”), a scaled-down version of the PC, or any system whichaccommodates user interaction and interfaces to information resources.

One typical application of the above noted technique is for providing atriggering event during a program, such as a sport event. In a firstexample, this may be generated by an advertiser. One could imagine that,due to the cost of advertisements in a high profile sports program,there is a desire to utilize this time wisely. If, for example, anadvertiser contracted for 15 seconds worth of advertising time, theycould insert within their program a tone containing the routinginformation. This routing information can then be output to the user'sPC which will cause the user's PC 302 to, via the network, obtaininformation from a remote location typically controlled by theadvertiser. This could be in the form of an advertisement of a lengthlonger than that contracted for. Further, this could be an interactivetype of advertisement. An important aspect to the type of interactionbetween the actual broadcast program with the embedded routinginformation and the manufacturer's site is the fact that there isprovided information as to the user's PC 302 and a profile of the userthemselves. Therefore, an advertiser can actually gain realtimeinformation as to the number of individuals that are watching theirparticular advertisement and also information as to the background ofthose individuals, profile information, etc. This can be a very valuableasset to an advertiser.

In another example, the producer of the program, whether it be an on-airprogram, a program embedded in a video tape, CD-ROM, DVD, or a cassette,can allow the user to automatically access additional information thatis not displayed on the screen. For example, in a sporting event,various statistics can be provided to the user from a remote location,merely by the viewer watching the program. When these statistics areprovided, the advertiser can be provided with profile information andbackground information regarding the user. This can be important when,for example, the user may record a sports program. If the manufacturersees that this program routing code is being output from some device ata time later than the actual broadcast itself, this allows theadvertisers to actually see that their program is still being used andalso what type of individual is using it. Alternatively, the broadcastercould determine the same and actually bill the advertiser an additionalsum for a later broadcast. This is all due to the fact that the routinginformation automatically, through a PC and a network, will provide anindication to the advertiser regarding the time at which the actualinformation was broadcast.

The different type of medium that can be utilized with the aboveembodiment are such things as advertisements, which are discussedhereinabove, contests, games, news programs, education, couponpromotional programs, demonstration media (demos), and photographs, allof which can be broadcast on a private site or a public site. This allwill provide the ability to allow realtime interface with the networkand the remote location for obtaining the routed information and alsoallow for realtime billing and accounting.

Referring now to FIG. 16, there is illustrated a general block diagramof a disclosed embodiment. A bar code scanning wand 1600 is provided bya wand distributor to customers and is associated with that distributorvia a wand ID stored therein. The wand 1600 is either sold or freelydistributed to customers for use with their personal computing systems.Since more and more products are being sold using bar codes (UPC, ISBNor EAN), it can be appreciated that a user having the wand 1600 can scanbar codes of a multitude of products in order to obtain moreinformation. Information about these products can be made immediatelyavailable to the user from the manufacturer for presentation by theuser's computer 302. Beyond simply displaying information about theproduct in which the user is interested, the wand distributor mayinclude additional advertising information for display to the user suchas information about other promotions or products provided or sold bythe wand distributor. Similarly, advertisers may provide catalogs ofadvertisements or information in newspapers or periodicals where theuser simply scans the bar code associated with the advertisement usingthe wand 1600 to obtain further information. There is provided a papersource 1602 having contained thereon an advertisement 1604 and anassociated bar code 1606. (Note that the disclosed concept is notlimited to scanning of bar codes 1606 from paper sources 1602, but isalso operable to scan a bar code 1606 on the product itself. Also, thewand 1600 can be any type of device that will scan any type of imagehaving information encoded therein.) Further description of applicationsand operation of the bar code scanning wand 1600 and the use of the barcode information is found in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/151,471 filed on Sep. 11, 1998 and entitled “METHOD FOR INTERFACINGSCANNED PRODUCT INFORMATION WITH A SOURCE FOR THE PRODUCT OVER A GLOBALNETWORK,” which application is incorporated by reference in its entiretyherein.

After obtaining the wand 1600 from the wand distributor, the userconnects the wand 1600 to their PC 302. During a scanning operation,wand 1600 reads bar code data 1606 and the wand ID into a “wedge”interface 1608 for conversion into keyboard data, which keyboard data ispassed therefrom into the keyboard input port of PC 302. The importanceof the wand ID will be discussed in more detail hereinbelow.

The wedge interface 1608 is simply an interface box containing circuitrythat accommodates inputs from both the scanning wand 1600 and a computerkeyboard 1610. This merely allows the information scanned by the wand1600 to be input into the PC 302. In the disclosed embodiment, the wedgeinterface 1608 will convert any information. The data output from thewand 1600 is passed into the wedge interface 1608 for conversion intokeyboard data which is readily recognizable by the PC 302. Therefore,the wand 1600 is not required to be connected to a separate port on thePC 302. This data is recognized as a sequence of keystrokes. However,the output of the wand 1600 can be input in any manner compatible withthe PC 302. When not receiving scanner data, the wedge interface 1608simply acts as a pass-through device for keyboard data from the keyboard1610. In any case, the information is ultimately processed by aprocessor in the PC 302 and can be presented to the user on a display1612. The wedge interface 1608 is operable to provide a decodingfunction for the bar code 1606 and conversion thereof to keystroke inputdata.

In operation, the product code of a product is provided in the form of abar code 1606. This bar code 1606 is the “link” to a product. Thedisclosed embodiment is operable to connect that product informationcontained in the bar code 1606 with a web page of the manufacturer ofthat product by utilizing the bar code 1606 as the product “identifier.”The program operating on the PC 302 provides routing information to theARS 308 after launching the browser on the PC 302 and connecting to theARS 308 over the GCN 306, which ARS 308 then performs the necessarysteps to cause the browser to connect to the manufacturer web site,while also providing for an accounting step, as will be described inmore detail hereinbelow.

The bar code 1606 by itself is incompatible with any kind of network forthe purposes of communication therewith. It is primarily provided for aretail-type setting. Therefore, the information contained in the barcode 1606, by itself, does not allow for anything other thanidentification of a product, assuming that one has a database 1614containing information as to a correlation between the product and thebar code 1606.

The wedge interface 1608 is operable to decode the bar code 1606 toextract the encoded information therein, and append to that decoded barcode information relating to an ID for the wand 1600. This informationis then forwarded to the ARS 308 by the resident program in the PC 302.This is facilitated by intermediate routing information stored in theprogram indicating to which node on the GCN 306 the scanned bar codeinformation is to be sent, i.e., to the ARS 308. It is important to notethat the information in the bar code 1606 must be converted from itsoptical image to numerical values which are then ultimately input to thekeyboard input port of PC 302 and converted into data compatible withcommunication software residing on the PC 302 (in this case, HTMLlanguage for insertion into a browser program). When the scannedinformation is input to the PC 302, the resident program launches thebrowser program and then assembles a communication packet comprised ofthe URL of the ARS 308, the wand ID and the user ID. If another type ofcommunications program were utilized, then it would have to be convertedinto language compatible with that program. Of course, a user couldactually key in the information on the bar code 102 and then append theappropriate intermediate routing information thereafter. As will bedescribed hereinbelow, the intermediate routing information appendedthereto is the URL of the ARS 308 disposed on the GCN 306.

As part of the configuration for using the wand 1600, the PC 302 hostswand software which is operable to interpret data transmitted from thewand 1600, and to create a message packet having the scanned productinformation and wand ID, routing information, and a user ID whichidentifies the user location of the wand 1600. The wand software loadsat boot-up of the PC 302 and runs in the background. In response toreceiving a scanned bar code 1606, the wedge interface 1608 outputs akeystroke code (e.g., ALT-F10) to bring the wand program into theforeground for interaction by the operating system. The wand programthen inserts the necessary information into the browser program. Themessage packet is then transmitted to interface 304 across the globalcommunication network 306 to the ARS 308. The ARS 308 interrogates themessage packet and performs a lookup function using the ARS database310. If a match is found between particular parameters of the messagepacket, a return message packet is sent back to the PC 302 forprocessing.

The wand program running on PC 302 functions to partition the browserwindow displayed to the user into several individual areas. This is forthe purpose of preparing to present to the user selected information ineach of the individual areas (also called “framing”). The selectedinformation comprises the product information which the user requestedby scanning the bar code 1606 using the wand 1600, information about thewand distributor which establishes the identity of the companyassociated with that particular wand 1600, and at least one or moreother frames which may be advertisements related to other products thatthe wand distributor sells. Note that the advertisements displayed bythe wand distributor may be related to the product of interest ortotally unrelated. For example, if a user scans the bar code 1606 of asoda from Company A, the wand distributor may generate an advertisementof a new soft drink being marketed by Company A, that it sells. On theother hand, the wand distributor may also structure the display ofinformation to the user such that a user requesting product informationof a Product X may get the requested information of Product X along withadvertisements for a competing item Product Y. Essentially, the wanddistributor is free to generate any advertisement to the user inresponse to the user requesting product information.

The return message packet transmitted from the ARS 308 to the PC 302 isthen transmitted back across the GCN 306 to the advertiser server 312.The advertiser server 312 restructures the message packet and appendsthe particular product information for transmission back to the PC 302.Upon receiving the particular advertiser information from advertiserserver 312, the PC 302 then retransmits a message to the wanddistributor site 1616 and E-commerce site 1618 to obtain the informationthat needs to be framed in the browser window displayed to the user.

Therefore, the wand 1600 is associated with the wand distributor by wayof a wand ID such that scanning a product bar code 1606 in order toobtain information about that particular product generates one or moreresponses from one or more remote sites disposed on the GCN 306. Storedin the wand 1600 is the wand ID which establishes its relationship tothe wand distributor. Proprietary wand software running on the PC 302operates to decode scanned bar code information and the wand ID receivedfrom the wand 1600 and wedge interface 1608, and also provides a uniqueuser ID for establishing the location of the user of the wand 1600. Thewand software also assembles message packets and works in conjunctionwith the on-board communication software (e.g., a browser) toautomatically route the message packets across the GCN 306 such that theone or more remote sites disposed on the GCN 306 return information tobe framed for presentation to the user.

Referring now to FIG. 16 a, there is illustrated an addition to theflowchart of FIG. 14 for registering an input device, for one embodimentof the disclosure, with the ARS 308 in conjunction with a user ID. Asdescribed hereinabove, each user, when they generated their user profilewhen first contacting the ARS 308 to activate their software, defines auser ID for storage in their PC resident software. This user ID, as alsodescribed hereinabove, is utilized to identify the PC 302 to the ARS 308whenever making a transaction. This is utilized for, among other things,updating profile information in the database 310. However, when an inputdevice, such as the input device in the form of a wand 1600, isutilized, there are a number of ways to identify this wand 1600. One canbe with the use of a unique wand ID associated with the wand 1600, aswill be described hereinbelow. The other is to create a wand ID in thesoftware program operating in the PC 302 running the PC residentbackground program as described hereinabove. In a situation where the IDis created in the program, reference is made to block 1410 of FIG. 14and subsequent thereto. After the user has entered very specificinformation, jobs, history and demographics, etc., the system will thenprompt the individual for information regarding the input device, asindicated by a function block 1630. This prompt will basically inquireas to whether the user has an input device for reading machine readablecode or for sensing audible signals. It may desire to know whether theuser has received an audible code from a broadcast system such as a TV,or the wand 1600 is being utilized to scan machine readable code in theform of a bar code. The program block will then flow to a function block1632 wherein various input device types are presented to the user ontheir display returned over the network 306 from the ARS 308, and thenthe user selects which type of input device is attached to theircomputer. For example, it might be a scanning wand, it might be an audioinput device, or any other type of device that allows for input ofinformation. For example, it is conceivable that the unique wand ID isthat of some type of tool being utilized in conjunction with the programas an input device. The unique want ID could even be the idea of a diskdrive wherein the wand ID would be generalized as a tool ID.

Once the type of input device is input, then the prompt will query whattype of device is attached, such as the type of scanning wand 1600. Thesystem will then ask for the distributor of the wand 1600. Of course, asdescribed hereinabove, the wand 1600 could have embedded therein aunique wand ID which would remove the need for inputting thedistributor, as the ARS 308 will recognize this particular wand ID.However, in the situation wherein the wand ID is not disposed within thewand 1600, then the user will have to view the wand or tool 1600 todetermine the distributor thereof. This is what input information wouldthen be noted in the user profile in the ARS 308. This allows the ARS308, at a later time, to match up the user ID, requiring no other userID, with their user profile to determine what distributor distributedtheir wand 1600, such that information can be returned associated withthat distributor, as will be described hereinbelow. Therefore, thecombination of a user ID and a corresponding entry in the database ofthe ARS 308 will constitute the wand ID or tool ID.

Referring now to FIG. 17, there is illustrated a conversion circuit ofthe wedge interface. A microcontroller 1700 provides conversion of thedata from the wand 1600 and controls interfacing of the keyboard 1610and wand 1600 with the PC 302. The microcontroller 1700 has containedtherein a memory 1702 for storing a wand ID (or even a URL for someapplications) or it can have external memory. There are provided aplurality of wand interfaces 1704 to the wand 1600, a plurality of PCinterfaces 1706 to the PC 302, and plurality of keyboard interfaces 1708to the keyboard 1610. In general, the wand interfaces 1704 comprise aserial data line, a ground line, and a power line. Similarly, thekeyboard interfaces 1708 comprise a serial data line, a ground line, aclock line, and a power line. The PC 302 provides a clock line, a powerline, a serial data, and a ground line for input to the microcontroller1700. The microcontroller 1700 is operable to receive signals from thekeyboard 1610 and transfer the signals to the PC 302 as keyboardsignals. Operation with the keyboard 1610 is essentially a“pass-through” procedure. Data output from the keyboard 1610 is alreadyin keyboard format, and therefore requires no conversion by the wedgeinterface 1608. With respect to the wand 1600, the serial data is notcompatible with a keyboard 1610 and, therefore, it must be convertedinto a keyboard format in order to allow input thereof to the keyboardinput of the PC 302.

The microcontroller 1700 performs the conversion function after decodingthis bar code information, and conversion of this bar code informationinto an appropriate stream of data which is comprised of the bar codeinformation and the appended wand ID (or even a URL in someapplications). This appended wand ID (and/or URL) will be pre-stored inthe memory 1702 and is programmable at the time of manufacture. It isnoted that the memory 1702 is illustrated as being contained within themicrocontroller 1702 to provide a single chip solution. However, thiscould be external memory that is accessible by the microcontroller 1702.Therefore, the microcontroller 1700 provides an interface between thewand 1600 and the keyboard 1610 to the PC 302 which allows the wand 1600to receive coded information and convert it to keyboard strokes or,alternatively, to merely pass-through the keystrokes from the keyboard1610. Therefore, the user need not install any type of plug-in circuitboard into the motherboard of the PC 302 in order to provide aninterface to the wand 1600; rather, the user need only utilize thealready available keyboard port in order to input the appropriate datainto the system.

In this particular disclosed embodiment, the microcontroller 1700comprises a PIC16C73 microcontroller by Microchip Technologies™. ThePIC16C73 device is a low cost CMOS 8-bit microcontroller with anintegrated analog-to-digital converter. The PIC16C73 device, asillustrated in the disclosed embodiment, has 192 bytes of RAM and 4k×4of EPROM memory. The microcontroller 1700 can accommodate asynchronousor synchronous inputs from input devices connected to it. In thisdisclosed embodiment, communication to the keyboard 1610 is synchronouswhile it is asynchronous when communicating with wand 1600.

It should be noted that, although in this particular embodiment bar codeinformation of the bar code 1606 is input into the keyboard input portof the PC 302, disclosed methods may also be advantageously utilizedwith high speed port architectures such as Universal Serial Bus (“USB”)and IEEE 1394.

Bar codes are structured to be read in either direction. Timingconsiderations need to be addressed because of the variety ofindividuals scanning the bar code introduce a wide variety of scanrates. Bar codes use bars of varying widths. The presence of a black bargenerates a positive pulse, and the absence of a black bar generates nopulse. Each character of a conventional bar code has associatedtherewith seven pulses or bars. Depending on the width of the bars, thetime between pulses varies. In this disclosed embodiment, the interfacecircuitry 1608 performs a “running” calculation of the scan time basedupon the rising edge of the pulses commencing with the leader or headerinformation. The minimum and maximum scans times are calculatedcontinuously in software with the interface 1608 during the scanningprocess to ensure a successful scan by the user.

Referring now to FIG. 18, there is illustrated a sample message packettransmitted from the user's PC 302 to the ARS 308. The message packet1800 comprises a number of bits of information including the bar codeinformation 1802 obtained from the user scanning the bar code 1606 withthe wand 1600; the wand ID 1804 which is embedded in a memory in thewand 1600 and identifies it with a particular wand distributor; and auser ID 1806 which is derived from the software running on the PC 302and which identifies uniquely with the user location. Note that themessage packet includes other necessary information for the propertransmission for point to point.

Referring now to FIG. 19, there is illustrated a more detailed blockdiagram of the routing of the message packets in order to present theframed information to the user. As is mentioned hereinabove, when theuser scans a bar code 1606 using the wand 1600, a wand program runningon the user PC 302 is operable to interpret the information output bythe wand 1600 and generate a message packet for transmission over theGCN 306. The wand program assembles the message packet such that it isdirected to the ARS 308 disposed on the GCN 306. The message packetcontains several pieces of information including the wand ID 1804 whichlinks it to the wand distributor, the user ID 1806 which identifies theparticular user using the wand 1600, and bar code information 1802describing a particular product of interest to the user. This messagefrom the PC 302 is transmitted over a path 1900 to the ARS 308 where theARS database 310 is accessed to cross reference the ID information 1804and bar code information 1802 to a particular advertiser and wanddistributor. The ARS 308 returns a message packet over a path 1902 tothe user PC 302 which contains routing information as to the location ofvarious other sites disposed on the GCN 306, for example, the advertiserserver 312 and wand distributor site 1616.

It is noted that, when the wand (or tool) is utilized, the program atthe PC may recognize this and merely input the user ID in the want (ortool) ID field. Alternatively, the mere receipt of a user ID inassociation with product code information will trigger the ARS 308 toassume that the want 1600 was utilized. It is only important that theuse of the want (or tool) be recognized and that the user's PC be routedto a location on the network preassociated with that wand (or tool)distributor. Further, it is the routing of the user's PC to apredetermined location on the network based upon the use of a particulartool, a particular type of tool or a general class of tools that elicitsthe connection. For example, it would be that the network connection ismade in response to the user utilizing a bar code scanner. This wouldconnect the user to a website for a general bar code scanner tool. For adisk drive, the program would recognize that a disk drive had beeninstalled (or merely used) and then route the user to the website of thedisk drive manufacturer, a competitor of such or even to some marketingfirm that wants to contact individuals that use or initiate such a pieceof equipment.

It can be appreciated that other information can also be provided by theARS 308 which more closely targets the particular user of the wand 1600.For example, if it is known that a particular wand 1600 is sold in acertain geographic area, this information can be useful in targeting theparticular user with certain advertising information relevant to thatgeographic area. In any case, the information returned from the ARS 308over path 1902 provides enough information for the wand program runningon the user PC 302 to identify a number of other sites disposed on theGCN 306. The user PC 302 then processes the return message packet androutes another message packet over a path 1904 to the advertiser server312. The advertiser server 312 then returns product information of theparticular product in which the user was interested back to the user PC302 over a path 1906. Similarly, the user PC 302 routes information(e.g., the URL of the wand distributor site and the user profile) to thewand distributor site 1616 over a path 1908 in order to obtaininformation back over a path 1910 for framing any banners which identifythe wand distributor. Additionally, the user PC 302 forwards a messagepacket to the E-commerce site 1618 over a path 1912 in order to returninformation regarding any particular advertisements the wand distributorwants to display to the user. The advertisements are returned to the PC302 over a path 1914.

Referring now to FIG. 20, there is illustrated a block diagram of abrowser window according to the disclosed embodiment. The browser window2000 is partitioned into a plurality of areas for framing specificinformation. A bar code area 2002 displays that product information inwhich the user was interested; a wand-specific area 2004 displaysinformation about the wand distributor; and an E-commerce area 2006displays advertising information that the wand distributor selects fordisplay according to this particular user and wand 1600. As mentionedhereinabove, a program operable to process scanned bar code informationwith the unique wand 1600 develops the browser window by partitioning itinto specific areas for the framing of information. Therefore,information returned from the E-commerce site 1608 is passed through theGCN 306 to the particular E-commerce frame 2006. Similarly, informationabout the particular product of interest is returned from the advertisersite 312 across the GCN 306 to the particular bar code specific area2002. Information placed in the wand specific area 2004 is informationabout the wand distributor which is returned from the wand distributorsite 1616 across GCN 306.

Referring now to FIG. 21, there is illustrated a structure ofinformation contained in the ARS database. The ARS database 310 containsa variety of information required to properly interrogate and assemblepackets for obtaining information from the various sites disposed on theGCN 306. The ARS database 310 has a database structure 2100 whichcontains addresses for the web sites containing the product informationrequested by the user when scanning the bar code 1606 with the wand1600. Under a product heading 2102 are listed the particular bar codesand associated routing information for addressing the respective serverlocation. For example, the ARS server 308 may contain any number ofadvertisers having unique URL addresses associated therewith. Therefore,the bar code 1606 of a particular product is associated with a uniqueURL address which routes any request for information of that product tothat particular advertiser's site. Also part of the ARS databasestructure 2000 is a heading of wand 2104 under which is the wand ID 1804and the distributor associated with that [[wand]] Wand ID 1804.

It can be appreciated that there may be a number of distributors usingthe disclosed architecture such that each distributor has an ID embeddedin the wand which uniquely identifies that wand 1600 with the particulardistributor. Therefore, the unique wand ID 1804 needs to be listed withthe respective distributors of that wand 1600 in order to process theinformation that needs to be framed and displayed to that particularuser. Another heading under the ARS database structure 2100 is a userheading 2106 which contains profile information associated with thatparticular user ID 1806. As mentioned hereinabove, the user ID 1806 isobtained via the wand software running on the PC 302 and uponinstallation or subsequent configuration may request that the user inputcertain profile information which may be used to target that particularuser with products and services which identify with that user profile.The ARS database structure 2100 also contains an E-commerce heading 2108which contains information related to the bar code 1606 and anadvertisement that may be triggered by the request for that information.For example, any bar code 1606 associated with a paper source 1602 canbe associated with the specific information in the ARS database 310. Auser wishing to obtain information about a specific soft drink may, infact, trigger an advertising response of a competitor product.Similarly, the user interested in information about that particular softdrink may also trigger information which is relevant to that particularproduct or a product which may normally be served in conjunction withthat soft drink. Furthermore, if the user profile indicates that thisindividual has significant interest in finance or insurance, the requestfor information regarding this particular bar coded product may triggeradvertisement from an E-commerce server 1618 related to informationabout finance and insurance. It should be noted that the informationdescribed as contained within the ARS database structure 2100 is notlimited to what has been described, but may comprise any number ofpieces of information used to present desired information to thecomputer display of the user.

Referring now to FIG. 22, there is illustrated a flowchart of theprocess of receiving information from the user's perspective, andaccording to the disclosed embodiment. The wand software running on theuser's PC 302 runs in the background until activated by output from thewand 1600. Therefore, flow moves to a decision block 2200 where if ascanned input does not occur, flow moves out the “N” path and loops backto the input of decision block 2200. On the other hand, if scanned inputinformation is received, flow moves out the “Y” path to a function block2202 where the wand software assembles a message packet containing thebar code information, the wand ID 1804 and the ARS 308 URL address.Additionally, the browser is launched in which this information isplaced for transmission to the ARS 308. Flow then moves to a functionblock 2204 where the browser is partitioned into any number of areas inwhich information is displayed when obtained from the wand distributorsite 1616, the E-commerce site 1618, and the advertiser server 312. Itshould be known that although three frames are shown in the particularwindow 2000 of this embodiment, the number of frames displayed in thewindow 2000 is limited only by the available real estate of the window2000 area itself.

After the wand software partitions the browser window into one or moreframes in preparation of receipt of return information, flow moves to adecision block 2206 where the computer waits for information to bereturned from the various sites disposed on the GCN 306. If informationis not returned, flow moves out the “N” path and simply loops back tothe input to continue monitoring for receipt of the information. Ifinformation has been received, flow moves out the “Y” path to a functionblock 2208 where routing information for each frame (or partitioned areaof the window 2000) is inserted into one or more packets fortransmission to the various sites. The various sites then return therequested information back to the PC 302, as indicated in function block2210. Flow is then to a function block 2212 where the proprietarysoftware working in conjunction with the hosted browser places thereturned information into the respective frames of the window. The user,viewing the display at PC 302, then perceives a variety of information,one of which is the particular product information which he or sherequested, in addition to wand distributor information, and possiblyother advertisements based upon the user's profile.

Referring now to FIG. 23, there is illustrated a flowchart of theprocess according to the ARS. The ARS 308 is operable to decode andprocess messages received from the GCN 306. Therefore, flow is to adecision block 2300 where, if bar code information is not received, flowis out the “N” path with loop-back to its input. If bar code informationhas been received, flow is to a function block 2302 where a matchingprocess occurs to link the bar-coded product information to itsrespective manufacturer. The ARS database 310 also associates the URLaddress of the manufacturer's server. When a match is found, the ARS 308begins to assemble a message packet of information for transmission backto the PC 302, as indicated in function block 2304. The message packetcontains the product information and the URL address of themanufacturer's website. Flow then moves to a decision block 2306 wherethe wand ID 1804 is compared with the list of wand IDs issued by theparticular wand distributor. If the wand ID 1804 is validated, flowmoves out the “Y” path to a function block 2308 where the message packetis appended with the wand ID 1804 and distributor routing address. Flowthen moves to a decision block 2310 where the ARS 308 determines if anyE-commerce information is to be associated with a particular wand ID1804. If so, flow is out the “Y” path to a function block 2312 where themessage packet is appended with the E-commerce routing string. TheE-commerce routing string provides addressing for the E-commerce server1618. Flow then moves to a function block 2314 where all message packetsare returned back to the PC 302 for processing.

Referring back to decision block 2306, if the wand ID 1804 is determinedto be invalid, flow moves out the “N” path and jumps forward to theinput of decision block 2314, since the lack of a wand ID 1804interrupts the link to any advertising provided by the E-commerce server1618. At this point, the only information provided is the link to theadvertiser server 312 for return of product information. Referring nowto decision block 2310, if no E-commerce information is available, flowmoves out the “N” path and jumps forward to the input of function block2314 where the message packet back to the PC 302 contains only the URLof the advertiser server 312, the bar code information, the distributorserver 1616 address and wand ID 1804 information.

Referring now to FIG. 24, there is illustrated a flowchart of theprocess performed at the E-commerce site. The E-commerce server 1618receives the message packet from the user PC 302, as indicated infunction block 2400, and decodes the packet to perform a match with thebar coded information. Moving on to a decision block 2402, if the matchis unsuccessful, flow is out the “N” path to a function block 2404 wherethe match is rejected. A message may be returned to indicate that aproblem occurred and the user may need to re-scan the product bar code1606. If a successful match occurs, flow moves out the “Y” path to afunction block 2406 where the wand ID 1804 is matched with the bar codeproduct information. The bar coded information may be distributed tocustomers over a large geographic area. However, the wand 1606 may becoded for certain geographic areas. For example, a wand 1600 having anXXX ID may be restricted for sale in the Southwestern United Stateswhile a wand 1600 having a YYY ID may be sold only in the Northeast. Inthis way, geographic areas may be targeted with advertising moreappealing to that particular area. Advertising returned to the user PC302 may be focused further by obtaining a user profile when the softwareor wand 1600 are installed. In this way, advertising may be focusedbased upon the user profile. Therefore, flow moves to a function block2408 to lookup the E-commerce action based upon the wand ID 1804 and thebar code information. Flow moves to a function block 2410 to assembleall the information into a packet for return to the user PC 302. Theproduct information and/or user profile information may be returned.Flow is then to a function block 2412 where the message packet istransmitted.

Although the preferred embodiment has been described in detail, itshould be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterationscan be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined by the appended claims.

1. A method for utilizing a product code having product informationcontained therein for interfacing a user node on a network to a remotenode on the network utilizing the network, the user node havingapplication software installed thereat for examining product code inputthereto, comprising the steps of: extracting a representation of theproduct information from the product code at the user node for inputthereto, which product code is disposed on or in close association withan associated product; in response to the step of extracting, theapplication software: assembling a message packet containing adestination address of an intermediate node on the network, a sourceaddress that defines the location of the user node on the network and adata field that includes the representation of the product information,and transmitting the message packet to the intermediate node on thenetwork; receiving from the intermediate node on the network,instructional code that instructs the user node to connect to one of theremote nodes on the network that has a defined association with theextracted representation of the product information defined at theintermediate node; and connecting the user node to the one of the remotenodes in accordance with the received instructional code such thatconnection to the remote node is controlled by the intermediate nodethrough the instructional code, wherein connections to remote nodeshaving defined relationships to the representation of productinformation are controlled only by the intermediate node and not by anyactions at the user node other than the operation of extracting, andwherein actions at the user node do not prevent connection or effectconnection to the remote node.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theproduct code comprises machine readable code.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein the step of extracting comprises scanning the machine readablecode to extract the representation of the product code informationtherefrom.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the machine readable codecomprises a bar code.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the bar code isselected from the group consisting of a UPC, an ISBN number and an EANnumber.
 6. The method of claim 1, and further comprising the step ofinterfacing with the network utilizing network routing informationembedded with the instructional code.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinthe step of extracting is operable to extract the product informationfrom the product code.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the productcode comprises a two dimensional image embedded with a digital valuerepresenting the product information and the step of extracting isoperable to extract the digital value as the extracted productinformation.
 9. A method for utilizing a product code having productinformation contained therein for interfacing a user node on a networkto a remote node on the network utilizing the network, the user nodehaving application software installed thereat for examining product codeinput thereto, comprising the steps of: extracting a representation ofthe product information from the product code at the user node, whichproduct code is disposed on or in close association with an associatedproduct; in response to the step of extracting, the applicationsoftware: assembling a message packet containing the productinformation, transmitting the message packet containing the productinformation to the intermediate node on the network; and at theintermediate node: comparing the representation of the productinformation with an associative database disposed at the intermediatenode and having stored therein associations between a plurality ofrepresentations of the product information and associated routinginformation to at least one of the remote nodes on the network, anddetermining if there is a match; and if there is a match, returninginstructional code from the intermediate node to the user node, whichinstructional code has embedded therein the routing information to thelocation on the network of the at least one of the remote nodes;receiving from the intermediate node on the network, the instructionalcode that instructs the user node to connect to one of the remote nodeson the network that has a defined association with the extractedrepresentation of the product information defined at the intermediatenode; and connecting the user node to the one of the remote nodes inaccordance with the received instructional code such that connection tothe remote node is controlled by the intermediate node through theinstructional code, wherein connections to remote nodes having definedrelationships to representations of product information are controlledonly by the intermediate node and not by any actions at the user nodeother than the operation of extracting, and wherein actions at the usernode do not prevent connection or effect connection to the remote node.10. The method of claim 9, wherein the message packet comprises a datatransmission that includes a destination address of the intermediatenode on the network, a source address that defines the location of theuser node on the network and a data field that includes therepresentation of the product information.
 11. The method of claim 10,wherein the destination address of the intermediate node is associatedwith the application software installed at the user node.
 12. The methodof claim 11, wherein the application software installed at the user nodeis operating prior to the step of extracting.
 13. The method of claim 1,wherein the destination address of the intermediate node is associatedwith the application software installed at the user node.
 14. The methodof claim 4, wherein the application software installed at the user nodeis operating prior to the step of extracting.
 15. The method of claim 1,wherein the product code comprises a visible indicia in which a digitalcode is embedded that is unique to that product.
 16. The method of claim15, wherein the step of extracting comprises the steps of: extracting avisual representation of the product code from the visible indicia; andextracting the embedded digital code as the representation of theproduct code.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of extractinga visual representation comprises scanning the product code with anoptical scanner.
 18. A method for utilizing a product code havingproduct information contained therein for interfacing a computing deviceat a user node on a network to at least one of a plurality of remotenodes on the network, the computing device at the user node havingapplication software installed thereat for examining product code inputthereto, comprising the steps of: extracting a representation of theproduct information from the product code at the user node for input tothe computing device at the user node; in response to the step ofextracting, the application software: assembling a data transmissioncontaining the representation of the product information, andtransmitting the data transmission to an intermediate node on thenetwork; receiving from the intermediate node on the networkinstructional code that instructs the computing device at the user nodeto connect to one of the remote nodes on the network that has a definedassociation with the extracted representation of the productinformation, interfacing with the network utilizing network routinginformation embedded within the instructional code, which networkrouting information uniquely defines the one of the remote nodes on thenetwork; and connecting the computing device at the user node to the oneof the remote nodes in accordance with the received instructional codesuch that connection to the one of the remote nodes is controlled by theintermediate node through the instructional code, wherein connections toremote nodes on the network in response to the step of extracting arecontrolled only by the intermediate node and not by any actions at theuser node other than the operation of extracting, and wherein actions atthe user node do not prevent connection or effect connection to the oneof the remote nodes.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the productcode comprises machine readable code containing therein a unique codethat is unique to the product associated with the product code.
 20. Themethod of claim 19, wherein the step of extracting comprises scanningthe machine readable code with a scanning machine to extract the uniquecode therefrom, the extracted unique code comprising the representationof the product information.
 21. The method of claim 19, wherein themachine readable code comprises a bar code.
 22. The method of claim 18,wherein the data transmission comprises a message packet that includes adestination address that defines network routing information to theintermediate node on the network, a source address that defines networkrouting information to the user node on the network and a data fieldthat includes the representation of the product information.
 23. Themethod of claim 22, wherein the destination address of the intermediatenode is associated with the application software installed at thecomputing device at the user node.
 24. The method of claim 23, whereinthe application software installed on the computing device at the usernode is operating prior to the step of extracting.